UK to Allow Driverless Cars on Road in 2015

The UK government is set to outline measures to allow driverless cars to use public roads by next year.

The Department for Transport had previously pledged to allow self-driving cars to be trialled on public roads by the end of 2013.

Currently, autonomous vehicles are only allowed on private roads.

The government wants Britain to be a leader in such technology, and Business Secretary Vince Cable is said to announce measures to boost research later today. However other countries have been quicker to allow autonomous cars on their public roads.

In his National Infrastructure Plan of 2013, Chancellor George Osborne outlined his goal to make sure "that the legislative and regulatory framework demonstrates to the world's car companies that the UK is the right place to develop and test driverless cars".

Major manufacturers including BMW, Mercedes Benz, Nissan and General Motors are developing their own models of driverless cars.

Concerns about the safety of driverless cars have been raised by politicians in the US and elsewhere.